Page 154 She feels the impact the moment her back is turned. Falling to her knees, the hunter shuffles on the floor like a kicked animal. What hurts worse than any of the wounds Phylaks inflicts are the many eyes of the eliksni, always watching her. Falling, failing. This pattern repeats itself every other day. Phylaks’s warrior training, with Shadow as her punching bag. A demonstration on how to fight and kill a guardian. How to use their weapons most effectively against them. At first, the hunter fought in return. But the warrior’s unfair advantages have worn her down. Shadow staggers to her feet, half heartedly blocking an incoming strike from Phylaks’s talons. “Coward!” The eliksni’s anger is stirred at the hunter’s defiance. “Fight back!” she hisses, and then raises her spear. Shadow can’t fight anymore. Her sunken eyes follow the weapon, alight with arc energy, launched forward. Bracing herself, she feels the slice into flesh, the tear of fabric as it cuts through. “I said,” Phylaks snarls. “[i]Fight. Back![/i]” The searing pain sends Shadow stumbling, gasping. Raising a hand to her ribcage, she presses down on the wound, crimson blood pouring through her fingers. She rests herself onto one knee, panting and grinding her teeth. Watching the droplets of liquid scattering over the floor. She waits expectantly, but no attack follows. “We’re done today.” Phylaks turns on her heel abruptly, snapping at the crowd of gathered eliksni. The vandals and dregs scramble over one other in their haste to escape the warrior’s anger, lest they be next. Shadow rolls over, rests her upper back against the cold metal wall with a strained grunt of effort. She tries to catch her breath, but Phylaks’s cruel gaze freezes her. “Pathetic,” she spits, dangerously quiet. She throws her spear down, the loud clatter making Shadow jump. “Next time, you’d best be ready to fight. There is no place for the weak here…” Phylaks strides out of the room without another word, leaving the hunter alone with her thoughts. Shadow exhales, trembling, closing her eyes against the heat of rising tears. She wonders how much longer she can keep this up. Glitch finally materializes, swarming around his guardian, desperately working to heal her. Vaguely, she hears his nervous muttering as she fades in and out of consciousness. How long could her damaged ghost keep reviving and healing her over and over again? The last thing Shadow remembers feeling is cold, hopeless, afraid… Defeated.